Pucks and needles: Type 1 diabetes is no barrier for Broncos’ Dahlgren
Kaleb Dahlgren lives every day with pokes, pricks and emergency food stashes.
The 20-year-old Humboldt Broncos hockey player, who is a Type 1 diabetic, sometimes gives himself a quick treatment on the bench during games by digging into a package of Welch’s Fruit Snacks. Between periods, he diagnoses himself and administers a needle if necessary.
He says he’s lucky he can judge his blood sugar levels by feel. Some Type 1 diabetics can’t.
“If I’m high, I feel very agitated; a tingling sensation, which is weird,” he says. “When I’m low, I feel really shaky, and tired, and weak — just not into it.”
Dahlgren tried a pump, but never felt comfortable. So needles it is. Four or five finger pokes every day, six or seven when a game is coming up. He alternates fingers, but doesn’t prick his thumb — that’s the most painful digit.
There’s also four or five needles a day “to tweak my blood sugars,” he says. He prefers his arm, his abdomen and his buttocks, but keeps away from his legs.
“I’m scared of doing my legs,” says the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League veteran. “I’ve just never been a fan of the legs.”
For Dahlgren, the game’s the thing, and he’s adept at juggling pucks, blood-sugar levels, needles and sticks.
He’s fastidious about diet and exercise. He’ll do his pokes in front of friends and teammates, who after the first flurry of questions quickly settle into a general acceptance. It is what it is. No big deal.
His father’s never heard Dahlgren ask, “Why me?” Calm, casual acceptance. He’s used to it; it’s just life.
Dahlgren had no diabetic role models while growing up. His parents told him about Bobby Clarke, but they were different generations — “he was old before I was born,” Dahlgren jokes, but he admires the hockey great’s resolve.
Dahlgren figures he’s in a position to be a role model. He requested a trade from the Notre Dame Hounds this past off-season so he could move into a bigger community and launch a program he calls “Dahlgren’s Diabeauties.”
The Hounds and Broncos worked it out, and Dahlgren is partnering with the team to support area kids who have diabetes. He’s been through it; he understands the challenges.
When he was four, after his diagnosis, things were much worse. Dahlgren loathed the needles. The doctor told his parents things would get better. They couldn’t see that ever happening.
In the weeks after his first visit to hospital, he would hide from his parents at needle time.
“Then my wife and I would have to find him, and physically hold him down to give him the needle,” says his father, Mark. “We’d all be crying, and he’d say, ‘Why do you hate me? Why are you hurting me?’ He didn’t get it.”
But Dahlgren soon grasped the basic, hard subtext: Without needles, he would die.
In Grade 1, he had a flip phone, and would call his parents from school. He would tell them his blood-sugar levels, and they would tell him how much insulin to give himself.
By that time, Dahlgren loved hockey.
“As soon as I put on the skates, I fell in love,” he says. “I liked how I could skate and feel the breeze go through my hair.”
The kid who moved from Moose Jaw to Saskatoon at age six was a good hockey player. But with diabetes comes questions.
“We were thinking, ‘Is he even going to be able to do that?’ ” Mark says. “To manage his blood sugar, what he’s eating, the exercises. Is he going to be too sick to play hockey? He was so young, and the first day or two, we were just kind of numb. He’s in hospital, and you think, ‘Holy cow, what’s this going to mean for his future?’
“We did everything to make sure there wasn’t a barrier. Some of the coaches and scouts have said, ‘Your diabetes may hold you back, because it’s a performance-based game, and if you’re not able to perform because of your diabetes, there’s not going to be a path for you.’ But his performance never, ever suffered from his diabetes.”
Dahlgren left home at age 16 to play midget AAA hockey. His parents weren’t worried; he had already proven he could handle diabetes like a star. Now, he’s a threeyear SJHL veteran, tied for second in Broncos scoring with six goals, nine assists and 15 points through 20 games.
“(After leaving home) it was ... OK — I’m on my own,” Dahlgren says. “I have to buckle down, and nobody can do it for me. It was a little bit of a mental check, prepping myself to be ready for anything that could happen.
“There’s always people who say you won’t be able to play a high level of hockey because you have diabetes. There was always naysayers like that, cutting down me and my diabetes, but I thought, ‘I’m able to do what I want to do. I can pursue what I want. I’m not going to let diabetes get in the way.’ ”
Last Christmas, Dahlgren met NHL player Max Domi, who also has Type 1 diabetes. The players spent 20 minutes comparing notes; they talked about handling life on the road, about the pros and cons of needles versus pumps.
Domi is an outspoken advocate, using his platform well. Back home in Humboldt, there’s Dahlgren’s Diabeauties.
Kids who sign up (visit humboldtbroncos.com for more information) receive a complimentary ticket to a Broncos game, get an on-ice picture with Dahlgren, receive Broncos souvenirs and chat with the player about the disease and its challenges.
Dahlgren, whose next hockey goal is to play at the collegiate level, came up with the idea and is passionate about its delivery. He’s also developed a presentation for schools.
“I’m helping them, and they’re helping me,” he says. “If they have any problems at all, they can come talk to me. Any questions, they can talk to me. I’m always available for them. I know the struggles they ’re going through. There’s going to be people who tell them they can’t do certain things, but they have to push through it, and prove them wrong.”